Premier Oil, a UK-based independent oil and gas company, has announced that the Solan subsea oil storage tank, jacket and topsides have been successfully installed.
The offshore hook up and commissioning programme will now start, but the precise timing of first oil from the Solan field will depend upon the progress of this next phase, Premier said in the release.
Tony Durrant , CEO, commented:
“We are very pleased to have successfully installed the Solan facilities within two and a half years of receiving approval from the UK government. This achievement was only made possible by the co-operation and skills of the teams and contractors involved.”
The Premier-operated Solan oil field is located west of the Shetlands in the North Sea and it is expected that it will produce approximately 40 million barrels of oil with an estimated initial production rate of 24,000 barrels of oil per day starting in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The project will entail the drilling of four subsea wells (two producers and two water injectors) tied back to a processing deck supported by a jacket. It is planned that the facilities will not be permanently manned after one year of operations. Oil will be stored in a subsea tank prior to being offloaded to shuttle tankers.
Premier is the operator and 60 percent owner of the Solan oil field.
Related: Solan oil tank offloaded (VIDEO)